One cheap effective way to happiness 26 MAR 2013

One cheap effective way to happiness. Say YES to life by being grateful for the blessings we have. Gratitude has been linked to happiness. Are we spending to buy happiness & neglecting a means to increase happiness which is free?—all it takes is to give thanks for what we have received! And giving thanks is transformational. It was also the quality of Yahshua that allowed his disciples to recognize him after his resurrection. In his new resurrection body he had been with them for a while on the road, but when he gave thanks for their meal, they recognized him.

Gratefulness not only increases our own happiness, but motivates & inspires those around us. It has transforming power! Yet shrinks have typically glossed over it as a simplistic emotion. It should not take a scientific study on happiness or the Pilgrim’s Feast day to get us to give thanks. We have plenty of reason without those things. For me, I am grateful to my friends, family & supporters from around the world for all the heartfelt appreciation they give me & the supportive things they do for me. THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Christ’s last supper was a Passover meal. The Seder (the sequence of the Passover memorial) has an incredible amount of “thanks” to God in it. During that Passover, Christ sang the traditional Hallel (thanksgiving songs, such as PS 118, “Give thanks to Adonai for He is good, His mercy endures forever.” And PS 117, “Give thanks to the Lord, all you nations; praise Him, all you people! For His kindness overwhelms us, and the truth of the Lord is forever, Halleluyah!”). He knew prophetically the torture of the cross coming the next day, yet he was so deeply thankful for what he had.…I don’t mean to bore you —but I am going somewhere with this…

I am reminded of a comment a Dutchman made to American troops liberating Holland in Sept. 1944, “You don’t know what freedom is until you lose it!” The Dutch passionately celebrated their liberation with incredible THANKFULNESS. Likewise, the Passover meal is celebrating the liberation of slaves…& without that liberation we would not have the continuing story of faith as we have it…God would have done the job some other way.

My favorite part of the Seder is the Dayenu part. It is basically a recitation of all the major things God did for the Israelite slaves/nation, & each event is followed by “It would have been enough” which in Hebrew is “Dayenu”. An example is “Had He brought us out of Egypt, and not executed judgments against the Egyptians, It would have been enough. Had He executed judgments against the Egyptians, and not their gods, it would have been enough.” One can keep going on about our own lives, if God had only given us life, it would have been enough. If God had only saved our souls, but not given us the wisdom of the Word, it would have been enough. On and on we could go telling of one great thing after another that God has done for us, that would clearly be a big enough undeserved gift!! It could have stopped, but He keeps giving.

To neglect to acknowledge the good things we have received is actually declared by the Word to be a sin. There is no doubt that pride prevents many from having gratitude. How often has the curse become a blessing. What the enemy meant for evil, God turned to good. Let us have hearts of gratitude for what we have.